A Light Summer Meal

It’s 92 degrees today in NYC. It’s scorchingly hot! On a hot summer day like today, the only thing I desire to eat is a fresh green salad. I know, I eat a lot of salads but, now and then, I do enjoy a hot meal. However, today is not that day. I could not imagine myself consuming a hot meal today or even this week because we’re in the middle of a heatwave.

Eating a healthy salad on a hot summer day is much more suitable. According to the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, water makes up about 60% of the body’s weight and we need to consume about two quarts of water(or liquid) per day. Fruits and vegetables contain large amounts of water.

I found a table online that was prepared by Sandra Bastin, Foods and Nutrition Specialist and Kim Henken, Extension Associate for ENRI, it provides the water content of several popular raw fruits and vegetables. It was very informative because I had no idea that certain fruits and vegetables contained that many water percentage in them.

Take broccoli for instance, it’s a very weighty vegetable, and that actually coincides with the amount of water it has. Broccoli’s food weight in grams is about 44, the water weight is 40, and the percentage of water is has is 91%. According to this table fruits and vegetables contain large quantities of water in proportion to their weight.

Basically, a fresh raw salad or juice that has fruits and vegetables would be an excellent choice for a meal on a hot summer day. These foods will keep the body hydrated with enzymes, minerals, vitamins and water.

😃 That purple thing is cabbage. It’s so delish! It’s in the cruciferous family with broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. You can make a cold slaw, or sauté it with olive oil and garlic, or steam it.